49 Somalis drown off Yemen coast

February 24, 2011 12:00 am

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By , Yemen, Feb 24 – Forty-nine Somali migrants drowned when their boat capsized during heavy winds in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen\’s southern coast, the Yemeni interior ministry said Thursday.

The group who were attempting reach Yemen, "drowned off the coast of Bir Ali in the south … when their boat capsized four nautical miles offshore" during a wind storm on Tuesday, a ministry statement said.

A number of those on board managed to swim to shore where they informed local authorities of the accident, it said without indicating how many survived.

Yemen is home to hundreds of thousands of Somali refugees who slip into the country\’s south by boat, fleeing poverty and unrest at home.